St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-11-25
POWDERLY MAY DIE.
The General Master Workman
Worn Out by His Battle for
Labor.

The General Master Workman
Worn Out by His Battle for
Labor.
INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 24.-General
Master Workman Powderly, i'll response
to a request from prominent knights in
this city urging him to reconsider
his announced determination to retire
from the leadership of the order, has
written letter of which the following
is the substance: ''YOu ask me to re-
consider my determination to retire
from tbs head of the order after the
next session. do not see how l can
consistently do SO, and it would
be unfair to ask me to retain position
which | do not want and which l
am confident another man can fill with
better advantage to the order at large.
During the past year l received thou
sands of communications from lndivld-
uals, it is true. i'll which [ was abused,
condemned and asked to resign.
The papers were full of abuse
and threats. Impeachment charges were
made and threats of withdrawal from
the order freely INDUCED in. Through
this cloud of gloom but one ray OF light
made its way and that came from far
away Denver. where ID. A. 81, passed
those ringing resolutions indorSing my
course and condemning the anarchist
element which sought to prostitute the
order to its own baSeneSs. | felt that
the order would stand more cheerfully
by some other man than it would stand
by me. True, have never had cause to
find fault with the official treatment
| have received, but when blows fall
thick and fast, friendly intercesSiOn now
and then, cheers person Oh whose
head blows are falling. ! believe the
best service that | can render to the Or
der is to step aside and allow
some other member to do the
work / am trying TO do. l have
devoted years to the cause of labor. My
life in the service OF humanity has been
one constant fight by night and day
against the enemies of labor and the ell
ementS of diScOrd which opposed me
from within and without. Such life
has been most exciting one,
and has left me with
legacy which [ can never part with, in
The shape of heart trouble, which may
do It's work at any moment. | could not
make such a subject matter for dis
cusSiOn in my annual message. or be-
fore the general assembly. Personal in
terests, social ties and the comforts of
home have been things of the past with
me for years. long to lie once more
free man, for to-day am bound by ties
most irresistible and ruled over by,
not only one, but by 100000 masters.
You can never know the strain
under which | have lived for
years. 1t would not be becoming for
me to speak of the financial sacrifices
have made for the order. | am free to
say | would be willing to make the
same sacrifice again of either health,
wealth or comfort for the order of the
Knights of Labor. have for eight years
as general master workman, striyen as
honestly as | know how to better the
condition of my fellow workmen, by
helping to build an organization through
which they would be protected in their
rights. That organization is built but
profane hands have been laid upon
it, and the men who gathered at
Chicago, and gave out that hostile dec
laratiOn to the world, did so only be-
cause anarchy could not rule the order.
do not charge all those who attended
the meeting in Chicago with being an
archists, but | claim that the vast ma
iority of them did not represent their
constituents"